Ruby Crab

By Nathan Gemmell

Bored, dreaming of a different life with adventure, success and family... Well, that’s just around the corner, but the path to our dreams is never straightforward.

Nat lives a mundane and solitary life. Day after day, nothing changes; he wakes up, goes to work, eats, then sleeps—and it all starts again the following morning. Always he dreams of a better life and to find someone to care for and to love.

Then, one day, he finds Ruby Crab. She is a beautiful childlike creature made of pure ruby. She has been abandoned! A refugee, Ruby Crab exists in a society in which she does not belong.

After spending a lot of time together, they develop a loving father-daughter bond. Will the world continue to reject her existence? Will society accept their connection? Will their love for each other prevail in this world—or in another?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Gypsy Shadow Publishing, LLC
• Release date: Apr 19, 2021
• ISBN: 9781619506572

Nathan Gemmell

Nathan lives in the Derbyshire Peak District in the UK. He lived with his parents and two sisters and in 2019 he successfully moved into his own flat.He is a young man with high functioning autism.He struggles to speak his thoughts and feelings; he finds it difficult to meet and socialise with others. Writing enables him to express himself, to verbalise his thoughts and feelings.He is caring, he has a great dry sense of humour, and he is very creative.He enjoys writing imaginative short stories that incorporate some of his personal feelings and his past adventures. He also enjoys building clay and plasticine figures. He gives these figures individual names and character back-stories and then he writes short stories about them.He attended a mainstream school but he found school difficult. His classmates were extremely supportive, but children from other years and classes not so much. Despite this he continued to attend every day and he was given an award for the pupil who had made most advances in his secondary school.He tries to not allow his autism to stop him from fulfilling his dreams. He has travelled widely and has even swum with sharks.This is Nathan’s first book, about one of his characters. The name ‘Ruby Crab’ comes from his birth stone, Ruby, and his zodiac sign, the Crab.

Book preview

Contents

Copyright Page

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

About the Author

Ruby Crab

by

Nathan Gemmell

All rights reserved

Copyright © December 11, 2019, Nathan Gemmell,

Cover Art Copyright © 2020, Paul and Nathan Gemmell

Illustrations with thanks to Pixabay creatives for the many free images they

allow for commercial use, including modifications.

https://pixabay.com/

Kirin picture based on the image Kirin Furry Thing

by DroidDragon27:

https://www.deviantart.com/droiddragon27/art/Kirin-furry-thing-528156335

Gypsy Shadow Publishing, LLC.

Lockhart, TX

www.gypsyshadow.com

Names, characters and incidents depicted in this book are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental and beyond the intent of the author or the publisher.

No part of this book may be reproduced or shared by any electronic or mechanical means, including but not limited to printing, file sharing, and email, without prior written permission from Gypsy Shadow Publishing, LLC.

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

This eBook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This eBook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then you should return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

ISBN: 978-1-61950-657-2

Published in the United States of America

First eBook Edition: April 19, 2021

Chapter 1

Day by day my life was mundane, uneventful, with a humdrum job at a corner store that paid very little. It seemed as though I had no future. My daily routine was predictable: I woke up, ate, worked, slept, and dreamed of a better life for myself; one with adventure, fame, and—more sentimentally—the start of a family. The days were so alike that the years passed unnoticed, and while there were moments of bliss, they were outweighed by the rest. Once in while something compelling happened such as meeting a distant relative or an old friend I had not seen for a while. Or I would get lucky and earn a bonus at work or run into trouble like an angry stray dog or a small-time thug desperate for money. Other times I would play games or watch videos on my laptop. However, nothing compared with making up stories about the Furries in their own land and writing them down. I hoped those stories would one day make me rich and successful.

The street I lived on was run-down, grim and boring. What had once been lively and colourful now looked like a dystopian future. And the heavy rain and grey clouds only made it more depressing. There weren't many jobs left and the fields were poor and dying. I had never seen my town in its prime, except in pictures. My family and friends lived there